According to the report, an Iranian deputy foreign minister will attend the ceremony, which will be held on Sunday.

Cairo had invited Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to the ceremony “in both capacities as president of Iran and president of the Non-Aligned Movement,” according to Egypt’s presidential spokesman Ehab Badawi.

Al-Sisi, the former Egyptian military chief who toppled Egypt’s first freely elected leader, Mohamed Mursi, was officially declared the winner of the country’s presidential election last Tuesday, with election officials saying he won more than 96% of last month’s vote.

Under Mursi, ties between Iran and Egypt seemed to improve, with the then Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad becoming the first Iranian leader to visit Egypt in more than three decades. He called for a strategic alliance with Egypt and offered Cairo a loan to ease a deepening economic crisis.

President Rouhani has pledged to improve relations with Tehran’s regional neighbors.

Iran and Egypt cut formal diplomatic relations in 1980 after Tehran was angered by Egypt’s admission of the deposed Shah of Iran and Egypt’s recognition of Israel.

MT/AM

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